A Celebration of Creativity: Kempner Staff Members’ Work Featured in the Harvard Staff Art Show
The show, open now, showcases pieces from the Kempner’s Heidi Osterhout and Marisca Pichette
A detail from Heidi Osterhout's painting, "Pathways above Clouds," now on display at the Harvard Staff Art Show in Allston through April 3.
You may know them as part of the staff team that keeps the Kempner running smoothly each day, but behind the scenes, Heidi Osterhout and Marisca Pichette are also accomplished artists, whose work is currently being celebrated at the Harvard Staff Art Show.
Their work, on display at the Crossings Gallery in Allston from Feb. 27- April 3, is part of a university-wide exhibit that showcases the creative work of more than 250 Harvard University staff through an online exhibition, local shows, and artist events throughout the spring semester.
About the artists & their work
Marisca Pichette, Kempner Administrative Coordinator, works in speculative and literary fiction, poetry, and essay. Her writing has been nominated for the Pushcart, Best of the Net, Bram Stoker, Rhysling, Utopia, and Dwarf Stars awards. The staff art show features her poem “In Parting,” delivered in audio, paired with a visual photo. It is the first poem in her collection, Rivers in Your Skin, Sirens in Your Hair. Learn more about Marisca’s work, including her forthcoming cli-fi novella, on her website.
Heidi Osterhout, Kempner Administrative Coordinator, is an artist who specializes in live event painting, portraits, and animals. Her acrylic painting in the show, Pathways above Clouds, evokes feelings of serenity, gratitude, and the spiritual journey of her experience trekking for a week on the Annapurna Base Camp trail in the Himalayas, Nepal in 2023. Learn more about Heidi’s work and see her portfolio on her website.
An artist celebration, open to the public and featuring snacks, drinks, live music– and a live poetry reading by Marisca Pichette– will be held on March 6 from 5:00pm – 7:00pm. Learn more and register here to attend the celebration.
About the Kempner
The Kempner Institute seeks to understand the basis of intelligence in natural and artificial systems by recruiting and training future generations of researchers to study intelligence from biological, cognitive, engineering, and computational perspectives. Its bold premise is that the fields of natural and artificial intelligence are intimately interconnected; the next generation of artificial intelligence (AI) will require the same principles that our brains use for fast, flexible natural reasoning, and understanding how our brains compute and reason can be elucidated by theories developed for AI. Join the Kempner mailing list to learn more, and to receive updates and news.
PRESS CONTACT:
Deborah Apsel Lang | (617) 495-7993
